Self-loading truck



Jane 10, 1950' J. F. GOODMAN SELF-LOADING TRUCK 5 Shee'ts-Sheet 1 FiledJune 28. 1946 ELQMMJ mil!" INVENTOR. JOSEPH E GOODMAN Ma WSQ: W

ATTORNEYS.

Jan. 10, 1950 J. F. GQQDMAN 2,494,171

SELF LOADING TRUCK Filed. June 28, @946 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORFJOSEPH E GOODMAN ATTORNEYS.

Jan. 10, 1950 J. F. GOODMAN I 7 SELF-LOADING TRUCK Filed June 28, 1946 5Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. JOSEPH F: GOODMAN ATTORNEYS.

Jan. 10, 1950 J. F. GOODMAN 2,494,171

SELF-LOADING TRUCK Filed June 28, 1946 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR.

JOSEPH EGOODMAN ATTORNEYS.

J. F. GOODMAN SELF-LOADING TRUCK 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed June 28. 1946INVENTOR. JOSEPH l-'. GOODMAN ATTORNEYS.

Patented Jan. 10, 1950 Y 1 siamosr ormiqn V .IosephErGoodmamINew York,N. Ya, assignouto. Automatic; Truck Loa r Gornonoticn; N

:' Ya aemv ne allelawars Apu icatioplucs281. Serial q-fifi fi l 9claims; (01. s r-r61) veyors adapted to convey material to the body'ofgthe truck and'to the constructionotsuch conveyo-rs. The conveyorispreferably attachedto the rear end of a dump truck. Trucks; of thischaracter are adapted for handling anyloo'se materials such as earth,sand, gravel and theli-ke-,'but-- are particularlyuseful for collectingrefuse in. cities, including ashes, cinders'and refuse of all and manytrucks of this general type are nowings'o used.

' The objects of this invention are:

(a) To provide a truck of the haracter described in which the capacityof the body may be utilized more fully by so constructing the'conveyorthat it occupies a minimum or space within the body;

(b) To provide a conveyor assembly of novel construction with improvedmeans for eliminating the jamming of'the conveyor when its blades orflights meet with obstructions in the form of bulky objects or the like;

To provide a conveyor which is entirely devoid ofdriving'shafts-or'other obstacles inthe path of the material beingloaded so as to elim-tnate difiiculties dueto the wrapping around suchshafts and the catchingon obstacles of-such items of refuse as wires,ragsand the'l'ike;"

' (d) To provide a unitary conveyor assembly of simplified constructionwhich is substantiallyselfcontained and therefore readily adaptable forattachment to dumptruck bodies without substantial alteration of thebody structure and without requiring special bodies;

. -(;e) To provide a conveyor driving system which isoperative in anyposition of the truck body relatiy e to its chassis, permitting theconveyor tobe run while the body-.isbeing elevated as well as when it isin dumping position;

(1) To provide novel means for adjusting the length of the trackcarrying the endless chains forming a part of the conveyor; and

2;.-...-2 .of;Fig-. 1, looking upward through the central portionoftheconveyor and conveyor housing;

3: is a. rear elevation of the truck partly'in section. and partlybroken away, taken for themostpar-t on the line 3-:-3: of Fig. 1, someparts beingomitted;

Fig. 4.: is a perspective detail on a larger scale, partly in section,showing the pivotal connection between the. body of the truckand variousparts o-.the-. conveyor housing, showing part of the meansfor-eleyatingthe conveyor when'thev truck iseumped and part of the means for drivingthe conveyor; f

Fig. 5.: is, a side; elevation of the truck with the body and theconveyor in their normal positions;

Fig. 6 is a viewsimilar to Fig. bu-t showing: the truck body-in dumpingposition with the conveyor elevatedtoopen the. rear ordischarge. end ofthe body;-

Fig. 7 is. a. detail of the pivot between the body. anctthe chassisofthe truck, showing-the mountingo the. power shaft. for driving theconveyor;

Eig-. 8; is an elevation of the upper end. ofthe con ey r ch in uidemember;

Eig. 9 is a sectional elevation taken on the line of Fig. 8v andincluding an adjacent portion 2f: he tr ck. bo y;

Ijig, 10 is; an expanded perspective view illus- Eating the relationshipof some of the parts in F e 4.;

- 1-1 is a perspective detail of the lower end or-one. of-the conveyorguide members, illustratingmeans for adjusting the length of the trackfor the conveyo cha n;

12is a perspective, view of the loading hop- 1 .6

Eig. 131s a side elevation of a modified form of the invention in whichthe conveyor assembly is QiJ Qttdto e truck-b d at its top;

Big. 14, 15 a partial rear elevation on the line 1.4% of: F 13; and

(g) To provide improved means for elevating th o v or assembly away fromthedischarge end of; the truck body'as it is elevated into dumpingosition.

Other objects and advantages-willin part appear and in part be obviousfrom .the following detailed description of the present preferred em-lbodiment I or the invention taken in. conjunction Wi hedrawi n hic -1 YFi 1 is asc ti nal. levat on throu h the V rear portion o a elfo din umpuck;

Fig. '2 is a condensed'sectipn taken on the line ing ztisecured to thechassisframe '20 and a bear- I '15,..shows the structure of Fig. 13 indumpns-position.

Referring. to Figs. 1, 3, 5 and 6, the invention is shown as embodied ina dump truck having" the usual chassis frame with automotive drive;including a transmission 2 l I Pivotally mounted on the frame 20 is anenclosed body 22 supported on longitudinal beams 24 and cross bearn'sZS." This body may have a door 23 in its side, asis usual,

for manual loading and inspection or the'interior ofthe body.

mtin'e t Fi t e ivota connect on be: tween thechassis and the bodycomprises ab'ear;

ing 28 secured to the body supporting beam 24. Extending through thebearings 26 and 28 is a bushing 29. It will be understood that two suchpivotal connections are provided, one on each side of the chassis.Through the bushings 29 extends a rotatable shaft 38 which extends ashort distance beyond the sides of the body 22 and car-- ries at eachend a sprocket 3|. It will thus bewhich may drive, through shaft 32 anduniversal I joint 34, an auxiliary reversible transmission 35 having acontrol shaft 36 and secured in any suitable manner (not shown) to thechassis frame. Shaft 36 extends through the chassis frame to a pointbeyond the body for connection to a lever 38 and operating rod 39 (Figs.5 and 6). The rod 38 extends rearwardly to a convenient position whereit may be operated by a man standing beside'the rear of the truck. Theend of the rod 39 may be: bent to form a handle 48 and the supported bya bracket 4| attached to some fixed part such as chassis frame 20.

The transmission 35, which is controlled by rod 39, contains reversinggears so that by moving said rod the transmission may be caused to driveits output shaft 44 in either direction, and in neutral position theshaft 44 will remain stationary. The shaft 44 drives adirection-changing gear contained in the housing 45 (Fig. 3) which geardrives the transverse shaft which passes through the body pivots asabove described. The transmission is preferably of known type whereinthe driving connections are made through clutches adapted to release onoverload. 5

7 At the rear end of the truck body 22, as generally indicated at 46, isa combined tail gate and conveyor housing which serves, in its normalposition, as a closure for the discharge end of the body. At the bottomof this housing is a loading hopper 48 provided with a hinged cover 49having an opening 56 through which the material to be loaded into thetruck can be dumped. In' -the case of articles too large to go throughthe opening 58 the cover may be raised as shown in dotted lines in Fig.12. This housing 46, as may best be seen in Fig. 3, is preferably nearlyas wide as the truck body 22.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2 and 3,. an endless conveyor travels within thehousing 46, moving, during loading of the truck, in the direction shownby the' arrows in Fig. 1. This conveyor comprises a pair of rollerchains 5! to which are attached at intervals brackets 52 carryinghorizontal blades or flights 54. The conveyor extends from the loadinghopper upwardly through the housing 46 and turns in a short loop justinside of the upper rear end of the truck body, thus leaving practicallythe entire space within the body available for the deposit of material.

Referring to Fig. 2, the particular construction of the housing 46,which is a feature of the invention, will now be described. The rear endof the body is provided with outwardly extending flanges 55 againstwhich rests the tail gate 56 which forms the under side of the housing46 and joins or is integral at its lower end with the loading hopper 48.In their upward travel the flights 54 carry material from hopper 48upwardly along the sloping surface of the tail gate 56. So that themarod' is slidably terial need not be carried any higher than isnecessary by the conveyor, the central portion of this tail gateterminates about midway between the top and bottom of the body at thepoint 58 (Fig. 1) so that when the body is empty or only partiallyfilled, material may be deposited into the body directly over this upperedge of the tail gate.

:The two outer sides of the housing 46 consist of upstanding side walls59 and 60 which are at tached to the tail gate 56, as by welding,whereby the underside of the housing 46 is in the form of awide trough,of which the tail gate 56 forms the bottom and the walls 59 and 60 formthe sides. Extending across the top of this trough and normally restingon the upper edges of the side walls 59 and 68 is a cover plate 6|attached to whichare the two depending side plates 64 and 65, whichcarry the tracks for the conveyor chains 5|. These conveyor chaintracks, as may best be seen from Figs. 2, 8, 9 and ll, are in the formof channels 66, the upper edges of which are integral with or joined towebs 68, which extend between the more or less parallel channels, andwebs 68 which extend outwardly from the channels. The upper webs 69 maybe welded to cover 6! and the lower webs 69 are turned outwardly atright angles and welded to the plates 64 and 65. This track constructionmay conveniently be made by forming and welding together suitable shapesof sheet metal which are in turn welded to their supporting members toform a rigid structure. The flights 54 of the conveyor, at their outerends where they are attached to the brackets 52, are flush with the flatsurfaces of the webs 68 and 69 so that the inside of the conveyorhousing is smooth, except for the channels occupied by the chains 5|,and without obstructions or spaces upon or in which materials can becomelodged. From the foregoing description it Will be seen that the housing46 comprises two main parts which fit within one another. The first mainpart consists of the tail gate 56 and the walls 59 and 60 and the secondmain part consists of the cover plate 61 and the walls 64 and 65. Thesetwo main parts are movable relative to each other and to the'body of thetruck and are pivotally mounted thereon in a manner which will now bedescribed with reference particularly to Figs. 4 and 10, showing themounting at one side, it being understood that it is duplicated on theopposite side but in reverse.

Mounted on the flange of the body 22 is a two-piece journal box orpillow block comprising a lower half 10 and an upper half ll boltedtogether and to the body and lined with any suitable bearing metal 12,preferably split for assembly in the usual way. Rotatably mounted in thelatter bearing is a housing-elevating member in the form of an ofisetbell-crank consisting of the outer arm 14 and the inner arm 75 joinedtogether by the hub 16, the latter having a longitudinal bore serving asa bearing for a stub shaft 18 which rotates therein. On the inner end ofshaft 18 is a sprocket 19 adapted to drive the conveyor roller chain 5!and on the outer end of the shaft is a sprocket 80 adapted to be drivenby a chain 8! which passes downwardly and around the sprocket 3| afiixedto the end of the shaft 30. The inner arm 75 is attached as by rivets 82to the side wall which also contains an aperture alined with the bore ofhub 16 to permit passage of the shaft 18. The side plate contains analined aperture in which is mounted a flanged bushing 84 which isrotatably mounted on shaft 1 18 inwardly of the side wall60.

For elevating housing 40 .the tcuter "end: of vth arm- H is attached'toa (Cable .05 which passes downwardly (Figs. 5 and 6;) unde'r a. firstroller 85" and over a second roller .88,"both of? which rollers areattached to thesupporting frame of the body, and thence to ananchoragetu affixed tothe chassis frame 20. For'adju'sting the length ofcable 85' a turnbuckle =90may be provided. Aswill beseen from comparisonofFigszfi and '6, the arm Iv-4 will be drawn down by thecable 85- whenthe truck body is elevated into dumping position and the inner armattached to the wall 00, together with corresponding parts on theopposite side of the body, will lift up the lower half of thehousing 46which'will carry with itthe upper half inwhi'ch the conveyor" ismounted. When-desired,.as in making adjustments" or for inspection,theupper half of the housing 46 may be manually lifted out of the lowerhalf which remains in place.

In Fig. 1 0 the upper and lower halves of the housing are shown, forillustrative purposes only, as displaced laterally from one another andfrom the body 22 to show how they are pivotally mounted for rotationabout the axis of shaft '18. Fromthis it will be seen how the upper halfof the housing comprising the cover plate BI and side wall 65 is capableof rotation about this axis relative to the tail gate 50-and side wall60. Referring to'Figs. 1 and 2, it will be seen howthe upper half of thehousing 45 and the conveyor carried thereby are thus capable of rotationabout shaft T8 in such a manner that it can be lifted away from tailgate56 and can move at its lower end (to the left in Fig. 1) withinthe'loading hopper 48 in case the flights 54 hit obstructions in theformof chunksof material or bulky objects within "the conveyor housing andparticularly within the loading hopper 48. This capacity for movement onthe part of the conveyor and the parts by which it is carried serves torelease or eliminate excessive tension on the conveyor parts which mightotherwise damage it or jam the conveyor when obstructions areencountered.

Between the meeting surfaces of the body flanges 55 and tail gate 56,and likewise between the side walls 59 and 60 and the cover plate SI,

suitable resilient gasket material is preferably inserted so as-to makea dust-tight closure and. to eliminate noise when the aforesaid partscome into contact with one another. Strips of rubber or rubberizedfabric material are suitable for this purpose.

Adjoining the top of housing 46 the body is provided with a hinged cover9! which rests on the cover plate BI and is free to move when the.housing 46 is elevated. It may be pressed toward the cover plate 61 byspring hinges or other suitable means, the hinge point of "the coverbeing shown at 92.

The body 22 may beelevated into dumping position by any of the usualmeans, there being shown in Fig. 6 a cam plate 94 afiixed'to the bottomof the body under which the roller 95 is pushed by the rod 96' operatedby a hydraulic jack or the like.

Referring to Fig. 8, which shows the inner end of the left-hand conveyorchain track shown at the top of Fig. 1, the lower side. wall of channel66 and the web 69 are cutaway to accommodate the sprocket'lB-whichextends into the channel 66 and into engagement with the roller chain 5I(not shown) which is. located in this channel. Rotation of thesprocket'IB moves the chain and. its'attached flights-through thechannelBG which 6 guides the roller chain-and determines its path. Itwilt be observed that in this structure" there are no drivin-g'shafts orother obstructions any-- Fig. 11 shows means for adjusting the effectivelength of the conveyor chain track to compensate for wear in the chainand toadjust its tension. this means being inserted at the lower end ofthe track which is located in the loading hopper. Afixed to'the back ofthe web 08 is a block 98 having a bore to receive a threaded rod 99-adjustably held in the block by means of nuts [00, IOI. Rod 9-9 bearsagainst the inner surface of an arcuate track section [:02 which ishinged at I04 to the outer side wall of a channel 66. The track I02preferably has an integral flange I05 against which the side of theconveyor chain bears. The side plate 64 terminates short of the ends ofchannels 60 and of the members in which they are formed so that bylifting the upper part of housing 40 including the sideplate 64 abovethe top edge of side Wall 59' of the lower part of housing 46, accessmay be had from the outside to the nuts I00 and IOI, for changing theiiective length of rod 99 andthe position of track section I02. Theouter ends of the side walls of the channels 66 facing the section I02are preferably flared outwardly as shown at I00 and I09 so as to' avoidcorners on which theconveyor chains might catch. While the trackadjusting means just described has been shown as placed at'the lower endof the conveyor, it-may' be placed elsewhere, for example atthe upperendalong a part of the curved channel shown in Fig. 8.

In the embodiment so far described, the pivots connecting the conveyorhousing parts to the body are shown as located at the under side of theupper looped portion of the conveyor. However, the inventioncontemplates that this pivotal connection may be otherwise located, for

example at the upper side of the conveyor where- 'by the housing :46would swing away from the body on pivots further above the bottom of thebody than in the construction illustrated as will now be described.

Referring to Figs. 13-15, the modified structure shown provides a higherpivot point for the conveyor assembly 40, shown as at the roof line ofbody 22, so as to give more clear space at the open end of the body whenin dumping position to facilitate the free discharge of the load,particularly when it consists of atangled mass of rubbish which tends tocome out as. a unit.

The-same drive shaft 30, coaxial with the body pivots, may be used as asource of power for the conveyor, the power being transmitted throughchain 8|, as above described, to a. sprocket I20 fixed to a shaft- IZ I,which also serves as the pivotal connection of the conveyor assembly tothe body by being rotatably mounted on the body in suitable bearings,the tail-gate portion of the conveyor housing being pivotally connectedto the shaft. Shaft I2I may extend across the truck body as it will notbe in the path I24 to the. sprockets which-drive the internal.

76 sprockets I9 which'move the conveyor. The stub shafts 18a connectingsprockets l9 and 80 in this embodiment are somewhat shorter than thecorresponding shafts l8 and are supported in bearings which are mountedon the conveyor housing instead of on the truck body so that they movewith the housing as shown in Fig. 15. In :both embodiments the stubshafts 18 or 18a provide the pivotal connection between the tworelatively movable main parts of the conveyor housing. When the upperpart comprising cover plate 6! and walls 64 and 65 moves away from thelower part comprising the tail-gate and Walls 59 and 60, the top loop ofthe track 66 will pass beneath shaft I 2| a .As in the embodiment firstabove described, the conveyor assembly is elevated, when the body israised to dumping position, by cable 85 which is attached to a lever arm14 rotatable about shaft l2l as a fulcrum, the lever being attached tothe conveyor housing.

As may be seen from a comparison of Figs. 6

and 15, the higher pivotal mounting of the conveyor assembly results inmore free space at the open end of the truck when in dumping positionand may advantageously be used when the nature of the materials to behandled requires it. It will be understood that with shaft l2] extendingfrom side to side of the body and driving sprockets 80 on each side itwill be sufficient to drive shaft 12! from one end and the sprocket 3iand chain 8| at one side of the truck may be eliminated.

It is within the scope of the invention to substitute for the variouschain and sprocket drives shown equivalent structures adapted to performthe same function such as drive shafts and bevel gears. It will beunderstood that exposed moving parts such as chains, sprockets, gearsand the like will normally be enclosed in suitable housings which havebeen omitted from .the drawings for simplicity.

While the operation of the illustrative structures above describedshould be evident, there are certain aspects of the invention and itsoperation to which it is desired to call particular attention. It willbe seen that the invention provides a unitary conveyor structure carriedwholly by the upper portion of housing 46 and cooperating with the lowerportion of said housing, in particular with the tail gate 56, to carrymaterial upwardly and deposit it in the truck body 22. Since theconveyor assembly has no connecticn with the body other than its pivotalattachment to the body, the conveyor assembly is one which may easily beinstalled on numerous toward the sides and into the channels 65 wheremakes of dump truck bodies with but slight modification.

The means for driving the conveyor is such that it remains whollyoperative regardless of the position of the body relative to the chassisand the position of the conveyor assembly relative to the body, sincemovement between these three structures does not alter the relationshipbetween the driving shaft 30 and the stub shafts 18 or shaft 12! beingdriven thereby.

The conveyor of the invention is adaptable to be driven otherwise thanfrom the engine of the vehicle on which it is mounted, as for examplereverses its direction following the path determined by the channels 66,occupies but a small space within the body and makes possible quitecomplete utilization of the body space for the carrying of a load. Thematerial being conveyed into the body will initially be depositedtherein over the top edge 58 of the tail gate 56 and as the load fillsup above the point 58 the conveyor will carry the material upwardlyabove the top of the load and shove it forward, packing the materialinto the truck body in advance of the upper looped end of the conveyoruntil the body is filled up to the path traveled by the flights 52.

Through the medium of the controlling handle 40 on the rod 39, theconveyor is at all times under the control of an operator standingadjacent the loading hopper 48 where he is in a position to observe theloading operation.

When the truck is to be emptied, the body is elevated as shown in Fig.6, in which illustration it is somewhat below its full dumping position,and if in sliding out of the body the load is retarded by contact withthe flights of the conveyor at the upper looped end thereof, in theposition they occupy in this embodiment, the load may be ejected fromthe body by running the conveyor in reverse so that the flights will diginto that part of the load in contact with the conveyor and forciblypush it out of the truck body.

During loading, if the conveyor flights encounter objects which wouldtend to jam it if it were a rigid structure, the movement of theconveyor against the object will cause it to push itself outwardly awayfrom the tail gate by reason of the freedom of the upper half of thehousing 46, in which the conveyor is carried, to move with relation tothe lower half of the housing. If under these conditions the conveyorfails to lift the obstruction up along the tail gate and into the body,the conveyor may be stopped and reversed if necessary and theobstruction removed.

The conveyor structure on the whole is one characterized by simplicitywith a minimum of driving parts, bearings and the like requiringadjustment, lubrication or other attention.

Extending, as it does, across nearly the whole width of the loading anddischarge end of the truck body, material dumped into the center of byan auxiliary engine which may be mounted upon the conveyor itself, orelsewhere, and connected by suitable driving means with sprockets 8D orother driving connections on the shafts 18 or 18a.

It will be observed that the conveyor, at its upper end where it entersthe truck body and the loading hopper 58 through the opening 56 will forthe most part be carried into the truck on the central portions of theflights 54 so that the material is not pushed by its own weight out theconveyor chains are running. "Suchmaterial as does come in contact withthe inner surfaces of the conveyor housing slides along on the smoothwebs B8 and 69 without meeting any ob- I structions.

It will be understood that the embodiment of the invention particularlydescribed herein is merely illustrative and that modifications, some ofwhich have been indicated, may be made therein without departing fromthe invention as defined in the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a self-loading dump truck having its body pivoted to its chassisfor rear-end discharge and provided with an endless conveyor including apair of chains and flights adapted to elevate material across thedischarge end of the body and discharge it into the body, a conveyordrive system comprising two stub shafts having sprockets on their innerends adapted to drive the chains of the conveyor, bearing means on saidbody supporting said shafts in axial alinement, a lower drive shaftextending transversely of the body and coaxial with the pivots betweenit and the chassis, means for driving said lower shaft, and meansoperatively connecting the ends of said lower shaft with the outer endsof said stub shafts whereby they are synchronously driven by rotation ofthe lower shaft.

2. In a self-loading truck, in combination, a body having an open endfor discharge of its contents, an upwardly sloping tail gate positionedacross said open end and extending downwardly below the bottom of thebody, a loading hopper at the lower end of said tail gate, upstandingparallel side walls on said tail gate, a cover plate extending acrosssaid side walls, conveyor chain guide members secured to said coverplate and positioned inside and adjacent to said side walls and havingchain-receiving channels extending upwardly from said hopper along saidtail gate thence in a short loop inside the upper part of said bodythence downwardly under said cover plate and back to said hopper,endless conveyor chains in each of said channels, material movingflights attached at intervals between said chains, means for drivingsaid chains, and means for pivotally mounting said tail gate and saidguide members relative to said body adjacent their upper ends wherebythey may be swung away from the open end of said body.

3. In a self-loading dump truck, a body adapted to discharge from itsrear end, a conveyor assembly including two endless chains carrying aplurality of horizontal flights attached at their ends to said chains, ahousing for said assembly including a pair of vertical chain-guidingmembers having channels to receive and direct said chains, a slopingwall extending upwardly across said rear end, said chain-guiding membersextending upwardly perpendicular to said wall and over the end thereof,the channels in said members forming short loops directing the conveyorin a curved path over the end of said wall, and means for mounting saidhousing upon the rear end of said body with said short loops extendinginto the upper part thereof.

4. In a self-loading truck, an endless conveyor assembly comprising twoparallel side walls having channels therein defining the path traveledby the conveyor, endless roller-chains running in and supported by saidchannels, a single sprocket extending into the channel in each of saidwalls to drive the chain therein, means external to said walls fordriving said sprockets in synchro nism, and flights attached at theirends to said chains and holding them in said channels.

5. In a self-loading dump truck, a body having a discharge end, aconveyor housing extending across said end, a chain-type conveyor insaid housing, a crank having a hub provided with an axial bore and armsat either end, one of said arms being attached to said housing, meansattached to the other of said arms and operative upon elevation of saidbody to rotate said crank, means rotatably supporting said hub on saidbody whereby it forms a supporting pivot for said housing, a shaftrotatably mounted in said bore, a sprocket on one end of said shaft andhaving a driving connection with the chain of said conveyor, and meansfor rotating said shaft to effect said drive.

6. In a self-loading truck, in combination, a body having a side openfor the discharge of its load, a housing extending across said side andforming a closure therefor, an endless conveyor supported wholly uponsaid housing and extending therefrom into the upper part of said body ina short loop, means for pivotally mounting said housing on said body,and means for driving said conveyor.

'7. In a self-loading truck having a conveyor comprising an endlessroller-chain and a looped normally stationary track for said chain,means for adjusting the effective length of saidtrack comprising amovable arcuate track section at a looped portion of the track, saidsection being hinged to the track at one end and in overlapping relationto the track at its other end, and means for adjusting the position ofsaid section whereby the track may be lengthened or shortened.

8. A self-loading truck comprising, a body having an open rear end, atail gate extending across said end and terminating at its lower end ina loading hopper, a conveyor comprising spaced apart endless rollerchains having horizontal flights connected at intervals to said chains,and track means for said conveyor carried wholly by said tail gate andextending from said hopper upwardly along said tail gate and looped overthe top thereof in the upper rear portion of said body.

9. A self-loading truck comprising, a body having side walls and an openrear end, parallel track-carrying members pivoted to said body adjacentthe top of said rear end opening and extending at the top into said bodya short distance adjacent the inner surfaces of said side walls, aconveyor extending across said open rear end and comprising a pair ofendless roller chains carried by said track carrying members, horizontalflights attached to said chains, and a housing for said conveyor adaptedto serve as a closure for said rear end.

JOSEPH F. GOODMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,915,927 Goodman June 27, 19332,151,894 Cambessedes Mar. 28, 1939 2,219,166 Schaefer Oct. 22, 19402,316,826 Wachter Apr. 20, 1943 2,339,938 Meyer Jan. 25, 1944 2,393,732Balbi Jan. 29, 1946 FOREIGN PATENT Number Country Date 3,916 France Jan.18, 1905 553,601 Germany Aug. 29, 1930

